Backward Glance: Hooray for the Maleny Show - Celebrating 80 years!

A major milestone in our region’s history will be celebrated in Maleny on Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3 when the hinterland region celebrates the 80th Maleny Agricultural Show.

The smells, sounds and sights of country life will certainly be experienced when you enter the gates.

Agricultural shows have been a part of Australian culture since 1822 and are strongly connected to local communities through educational, competitive, social and cultural experiences.

If a town could talk Maleny would have so many stories to tell about those early pioneer days to the visitors and residents on the Sunshine Coast enjoying the alternative picturesque region.

There are memories of the hardships of isolation, droughts and heavy rainfall causing problems for both transportation and stock, memories of the township where large general stores in Maple Street stood on each side of the road opposite each other.

Hunts were on one side of Maleny’s Maple Street and Tytherleighs Store on the other. Both stocked just about everything farming families required in those earlier days.

The bullocky and his team attempting to cross the Obi Obi Creek in the town scrambling over the slippery creek bed with a full wagon and load bogged to the axles has long gone.

The sealed roads we have today would have been only a pipe-dream for those hard working wise cracking bullockies of the bush.

Agricultural Shows such as Maleny’s would not be successful without the tireless work of local volunteers who provide so much of their time to make the show a success for all who visit and compete.

Maleny still has a country atmosphere and is such a picturesque lush region.

The show organises special competitions to encourage rural youth including show princess, rural ambassador and charity person.

Not-to-be-missed are the horse events, beef cattle and dairy sections, exhibits of champion livestock, and competitive horsemanship which includes some of the best show jumping and dressage in Queensland. Everyone loves the grand parade displays and the naughty Shetland ponies being led along by children.

Not to be forgotten is the excitement of the woodchop and the splendid display of poultry of all types. Needleworkers and the best cooks of the district vie for champion sponge cake or pickle or marmalade maker, still using their secret family recipes handed down through the generations.

School children of the district proudly produce their best work to display as they would have done over the years and to top it off kids get the day off school on Friday, June 2 to attend the show.

All competitors hope for the blue ribbon of First Prize, but it does not matter if you win or try your best, it is about keeping the culture of our Australian country shows alive with the activities that have been continued and enjoyed since the early days.

Side-show workers spruik their rides inviting people to ‘come and have a go’ and to enjoy all types of competitive thrills. The mechanical clown faces are always a favourite with little ones hoping to win a big stuffed toy if they are lucky.

The ghost train and the octopus ride will attract the teenagers and all those who dare to be scared. The grand parade is a wonderful sight featuring many types of cattle and the beauty of a well groomed horse and rider.

If we could turn back the clock to 1922 when Maleny’s first show opened, the area was a very different place and things were done differently. A wood stove was how the cooking was done and if mother was lucky she would have an ice chest or later a kerosene refrigerator to keep food cool. This was an Australian invention in 1923 and electricity did not come to the region until late 1939.

In 1927 the entertainment committee of the Maleny Show Society held a pioneers ball at the Maleny School of Arts in honour of the hardworking pioneers of the district. Mr A Bryce welcomed the guests by saying it was to honour the men and women who with stout hearts had laid the foundation of what was today a prosperous community.

Stout hearts were needed during the Great Depression and unfortunately during some of years of the Depression the show was abandoned in 1932, 1934 and 1935. A drought which caused great hardship in 1950 caused the show to be cancelled in that year.

In 1990 the alternative needs of local Maleny residents saw vegetarian food served at the Maleny Show and it sold out by 5pm on the first day. Delicious foods are still served at the show and many types of foods are on offer these days. Many of the recipes and cakes on display are perhaps from those early Maleny and district pioneering family recipes handwritten into exercise books handed down over many years.

So make sure you take the opportunity to head to one of the best country shows and support one of our renowned heritage events while enjoying a great day out at Maleny Show.

Free buses will be running in the Kawana to Caloundra region. For more details ring the Maleny Show Society on 5494 2008.

Th anks to Sunshine Coast Council’s Heritage Library Officers for the words and Picture Sunshine Coast for the images.

_In 2017 we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Naming of the Sunshine Coast. For more information on this milestone anniversary visit www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/fifty_

Image captions:

Hero image: M864837 - Parade at Maleny Show, ca 1930.

Carousel images:

Image 1: Janet 'Jean' DIckson feeding Friesian calves near 'Mosman' on Pattemore's farm North Maleny, ca 1941.

Image 2: Maleny Showgrounds showing the original pavilion and newly formed Centenary Drive, ca 1978.

Image 3: Jersey cows at the Maleny Show cattle stalls, Maleny, 1981.

Image 4: Calf-roping, was among the popular events at the Maleny Show & Rodeo, 1981.

Image 5: Spectators watching the grand parade at the Maleny Show, June 1981.

Image 6: Winner of the ‘Champion Stallion or Colt’ division, Maleny Show, 1981.

Image 7: Pedigree dog show, a popular event at the Maleny show, 1981.